Chapter One
Dragon-Sidhe pregnancies last six months, but I'd only had to spend five away from my loved ones who live in the God Realm. I'd been further along than I'd thought when I'd first learned I was pregnant and that, in addition to the time I'd spent dealing with Jehovah's duplicity, meant that I was nearly into my second month when I went to Faerie with my Dragon-Sidhe husband to spend the rest of my pregnancy safely ensconced in that realm. I would have used my Ring of Remembrance to jump back in time for quick visits to the God Realm, but Arach didn't want to risk anything happening there or on Earth that could draw me into a war.
It was a valid concern. So far, every time I'd been pregnant—including this time—I'd been involved in a major battle. I tried my best to stay out of the last one, but it had literally come to me, bypassing wards that I'd thought were impenetrable. And now, there was a distinct possibility of a second war between Heaven and Hell. Technically, Hell didn't exist at the time of the first war. Luke created Hell and became the Devil to end that war. So, I guess that makes it a civil war in Heaven, though there was nothing civil about it. Anyway, because of that, I had agreed to stay in Faerie, where things were relatively peaceful.
I'd endured five months without six of my husbands and four of my children. I love the Faerie Realm and enjoy every minute I spend with my family there, but that is only part of my unusual life. Hectic does not even begin to describe it. In Faerie, I'm the Queen of the Fire Kingdom, ruling beside my husband, King Arach. But in the God Realm, I'm the Goddess of Lions, Love, and the Moon. I'm responsible for a pride of werelions and married to the Prince of the Froekn, the Lion God of Winter and Death, the Egyptian God of the Sun, the Norse God Odin, the Angel of Death, and a star god whose soul I'd pulled from the Void and placed in a body I'd made from dark matter.
Yep, life is a bit complicated for me. But moments like this one made it all worthwhile.
I held my little girl in my arms at last, and she was everything I'd hoped for. A tuft of crimson hair atop her head, a pair of dark brown eyes with slit pupils, and golden dragon scales adorning her temples. Her dragon would resemble mine and that made me inexplicably proud, but, more importantly, it was correct. All of it—from her hair to her dragon—was the same as it was in the version of her who I had met in a different future. I had been so worried that by changing that future, I had lost her. But I hadn't. My brave girl was with us at last.
“I've been waiting so long to meet you, Samara,” I said to her as her brothers and father crowded in around us on the bed. “Well, to meet you again. Welcome back to life, baby girl.”
“Can I hold her now?” Rian asked.
“Come here, and I'll help you,” Arach said.
Rian went to sit beside his father, and I set Samara into his arms while Arach leaned over to show our son how to support his sister's head. Seeing the three of them together, with their fey-red hair in slightly different shades, Arach and Rian staring tenderly down at Samara, turned my heart into a puddle. Brevyn, Rian's twin who looked nothing like him, crawled up closer to me, and I tucked him in against my side and kissed his cheek.
“I want to go back with you, Mom,” Brevyn said.
“What do you mean? Go back where?”
Arach looked up sharply, adoration quickly turning into concern.
“To the God Realm. I can borrow Dad's ring and then I won't lose any time here and I could go back to the same time you do. I can travel with you.”
I looked at Arach.
“Son, there's a war brewing in the God Realm,” Arach said. “It's not safe for you there.”
“My sister and brothers are there,” he countered. “Aren't they safe?”
“They're safe in Pride Palace, but something might happen that your mother will have to deal with, and if it leads to a battle, I will need my ring so I may return and help her.”
“But then I could return here to the same time I'd left and warn you of the war before it happened. You'd have more time to prepare than if Mom mirrored you.” He smiled reassuringly at his father. “I want to visit Uncle Thor so I can meet his daughter while she's still a baby. I think it's important.”
Oh, there went my heart again.
“Arach,” I whispered. “They're his family too. He deserves to meet Ariana. It'll be a precious memory for him.”
Arach let out a long breath.
“But I wanted to go with you to visit Uncle Thor,” Rian said.
“You can go next time. My first visit should be alone,” Brevyn spoke like a grown man suddenly, and I glimpsed Ull again—the friend whose soul I'd placed inside Brevyn's body and the very reason why Brevyn wanted to visit Thor. Ull had been Thor's adopted son.
“Mom!” Rian looked at me.
I slid Samara out of Rian's arms before he started jostling her too much, then said, “It's your brother's decision, honey. He wants to do this alone, and that's okay. You can both do things apart, you know?”
“But I don't want to do things apart!”
“Rian, you sound like a child,” Arach admonished. “Is that what you are?”
Rian's expression fell, his eyes rounding. I grimaced at Arach for using Rian's need to make his father proud against him. But parents sometimes have to resort to such dastardly measures.
Brevyn reached over and took Rian's hand. “If I use Dad's ring, you won't even miss me. I'll be back in a few seconds.”
